Global Engagement Center
President Obama created the Global Engagement Center with an executive order in March of 2016. Its initial purpose was to track terrorist propaganda and disinformation online, to work across government agencies to craft coherent anti-terrorist messaging, and work with other governments and grassroots organizations to fight information warfare abroad.
In July of last year (2016), Republican senator Rob Portman and Democratic senator Chris Murphy introduced the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, which created a second mission for the GEC: attacking state-sponsored propaganda. Even though the US government was aware of Russian meddling in the presidential election earlier, it wasn't until December, when President Obama signed the bill into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, that responding to this new threat fell under the GEC's purview.
Initially, State Department officials expressed some skepticism that the GEC, essentially an 80-person startup within the State Department, could handle this new mission, says Romesh Ratnesar, former chief of staff in the office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.
But Younis and other members of the team believed the key to understanding both threats was understanding how people are persuaded into beliefs online, and knowing how to counter those messages in speeches, on social media, and on the ground, with help from grassroots organizations. He also believed the GEC could act as the connective tissue between government agencies—from the Department of Defense to the State Department—that had already confronted the issue.
$60 million per year for two years to fight state-sponsored propaganda. That money was to be transferred from the Department of Defense to the Department of State, but initiating that transfer was entirely up to the Secretary of State's discretion.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-state-departments-fumbled-fight-against-russian-propaganda/
State Dept. Was Granted $120 Million to Fight Russian Meddling. It Has Spent $0.
After The New York Times, following a report on the issue by Politico in August, began asking about the delayed money, the State Department announced on Monday that the Pentagon had agreed to transfer $40 million for the effort, just a third of what was originally intended.
State Department officials say they expect to receive the money in April. Steve Goldstein, the under secretary for public diplomacy, said he would contribute $1 million from his own budget to “kick-start the initiative quickly.”
On Wednesday, Mark E. Mitchell, a top official in the Defense Department, said much wrangling remained before any of the promised $40 million is transferred to the State Department.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/world/europe/state-department-russia-global-engagement-center.html
Found the sauces from today. Still don't know if funding was ever received from DoD.